I think it's misleading to claim that desktops are losing share. Quarterly sales may be down but I think thats becasue most people have found their current systems are generaly sufficient to meet their needs, and are no longer upgrading until either the system won't do what they want, or something breaks. (enthusiast community excluded) Add in the number of private used sales, scrounged, traded or given away systems and I'd say desktops are doing quite well.

PS: I had a somewhat longer and more succinct post but after the board dumping it twice I didn't feel like typing it all a third time.

I have been playing around with win 8 a little bit and the only thing so far about metro is that chrome web browser can be set up so that when you pust the win key it will bring up the chrome web browser full screen and then I can switch back and forth easly between my xbmc and the chrome web browser which at night when watching my programs comes in handy.

You have 2 Google Chrome, the Metro one and the regular desktop. I will not touch the Windows key as it's use in too many key shortcut, as exemple to switch between desktop and start page and win + c bring the charm menu and win + x the menu where you have cmd, device manager and other system stuff.

Metro certainly has it's ups and downs, but I'll be going about this a little differently. I think I'll pick up a Surface close to release date and use that to govern my overall feelings on the Metro UI. It will also give me the time I need to get used to it. Then if everything goes smoothly and I feel it's what I'm looking for, I'll look at a Windows 8 phone. The last step will be to incorporate Windows 8, and by that time I'll have a much better idea of what I'm getting in to, and hopefully Microsoft will have released the first wave of patches.

All in all, I can't fault Microsoft for wanting to effect change. The Start menu system has been around for almost 20 years, and has evolved almost as far as it can. Metro may have been too drastic a change all at once, but I see their point.

*Side Note* I find it amusing that when Mac users get something shoved down their throats, they praise it as what they needed all along. But the second Windows changes anything, the whole world goes ballistic and views it with overt skepticism. I guess we know where the trolls and haters live. ;)

*Side Note* I find it amusing that when Mac users get something shoved down their throats, they praise it as what they needed all along. But the second Windows changes anything, the whole world goes ballistic and views it with overt skepticism. I guess we know where the trolls and haters live. ;)

Conversely, we also know where all the conformist, lead-me-by-the-nose sheeple live ;)

Just got back from Staples and I was showing a buddy of mine how annoying Metro was.

The Staples employee then told me that their Microsoft rep informed him that MS was going to add the ability to enable the Windows 7 style start menu and disable the start screen.

My Google-fu did not confirm this....is this just an attempt to stop some complaining or is there some legitimacy to his claim???

Lol, I will not have lost time to search on Google, Staples employees are full on BS, on the Developer Preview, we was just changing a line in the registry to activate the Start menu, MS discover it and make sure to fix it in the Consumer Preview and now the final release, MS don't want we use a Start button.

Just got back from Staples and I was showing a buddy of mine how annoying Metro was.

The Staples employee then told me that their Microsoft rep informed him that MS was going to add the ability to enable the Windows 7 style start menu and disable the start screen.

My Google-fu did not confirm this....is this just an attempt to stop some complaining or is there some legitimacy to his claim???

I call bullcrap. I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that M$ is going to back down on the metro interface being the one and only "start" menu for windows from here on in. Either the Staples employee was full of it (and I suspect this because I doubt that a staples has a microsoft rep who'd be passing along that information), or in the case that there actually is a M$ rep, he's a salesman and saying whatever it takes to get product on the shelves.

I call bullcrap. I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that M$ is going to back down on the metro interface being the one and only "start" menu for windows from here on in. Either the Staples employee was full of it (and I suspect this because I doubt that a staples has a microsoft rep who'd be passing along that information), or in the case that there actually is a M$ rep, he's a salesman and saying whatever it takes to get product on the shelves.

We suggested such when we left the store. I told the guy that he might have meant the stardock Win7 software skin but he insisted that MS informed him. I told him there might be a good opportunity for Staples to add a 'Win7 skin' package for the low low price of $50 installed lol.

Gotta sell those machines....will be interesting to see how retail handles the Win8 complaints.